the pandemic, especially, saw massive escalation of ecommerce. a report by redseer strategy consultants said online sales (or gross merchandise value) during the festive season this year would reach $11.8 billion, a 28% increase over last year. "we are working on a generic, robust framework to handle this. the main issue is traceability and legitimacy of the reviews and ratings - whether the person who's written the review is actually the user. hotels and travel reviews are, to use the word, the biggest defaulters on this." the rampant practice of fake or unverified reviews make it impossible for consumers to differentiate between actual and paid reviews of products and services.